Bass action on Clear Lake remains nothing short of fantastic. In fact, a few fishermen are complaining they are only catching 20-30 bass a day. The top lures continue to be Senkos rigged wacky style and drop-shotted plastic worms and jigs. Deep-running crankbaits also have been effective. The topwater action has been limited to early in the mornings to the last hour before dark. A few bass are being caught on a plastic frog worked above the weed mats, but that action has been very limited.
One of the better areas for bass has been the rockpiles near Rattlesnake Island. On Sunday, Mike Rothstein of Lakeport fished with Jim Craig of Upper Lake and they caught more than 30 bass off the rockpiles. Rothstein said they used crankbaits to catch most of their fish. Craig caught an 8-pounder in the area.
Gary Hill of Kelseyville continues to load up on bass while fishing from his float tube. His two favorite areas have been the State Park and off Henderson Point. Hill fishes approximately six days a week and uses a variety of lures and plastic worms.
Best Bass Tournaments (BBT) is holding a team tournament on Saturday out of Redbud Park in Clearlake. The tournament is expected to draw approximately 50 boats and the weigh-in starts at approximately noon.
The big question on everyone’s mind is where are the fishermen? Despite some of the best bass fishing in years, the fishermen are staying away from Clear Lake for the most part. A good example was Wednesday. There were only two bass boat trailers at the Fifth Street boat ramp in Lakeport and only one at Lakeside County Park. I was at the State Park and there wasn’t a single boat trailer in the parking lot. A check with the local motels revealed that few fishermen have been in the area so far this summer.
Crappie action has slowed a little but is still rated good in some areas. The trick to success is to keep on the move until you locate a school of fish. That’s when you should work the area thoroughly. There also have been some large bluegill caught near Shag Rock and at Lakeside County Park with nightcrawlers being the top bait. Catfish action is also starting to improve. Several fishermen report catching catfish weighing from 5-10 pounds.
Indian Valley Reservoir is still kicking out plenty of bass. Bob Bridges of Lakeport fished the lake last weekend and said he was the only boat on the water. Bridges said there plenty of bass but most were between 1-2 pounds. The campground at the dam had only one party staying there and they were fishing from shore.
Lake Mendocino has been providing excellent bass action for both smallmouths and largemouths. Bass are being caught all around the lake. On the weekends the lake has had plenty of boaters.
On the trout scene, the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) has scheduled a trout stocking next week for the East Branch of the Russian River. This is the first stocking in more than a month. To date the fishing has been poor in the Russian River and only fair at Upper Blue Lake, one reason being that the DFW has cut back its trout stocking program throughout the state to save money.
As an example, in past years Lake Pillsbury would receive regular trout stocking but this year the lake has been stocked only once. The good news is Upper Blue Lake is an excellent lake for bass fishing and many anglers are switching to bass instead of trout. Drop-shotting a plastic worm or fishing a jig slowly along the bottom are the top techniques for catching bass.
The Zone A archery deer season has one week left before closing on July 30. The hunting has been slow to date. Larry Poff of Kelseyville processes deer and he said he has had only one buck brought to him for processing so far.
